Granite Construction Incorporated $GVA Shares Sold by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 38.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 76,948 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 47,858 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $8,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Granite Construction by 94.6% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 31.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 898 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in Granite Construction by 64.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,110 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total transaction of $801,221.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,206 shares in the company, valued at $1,073,977.38. This represents a 42.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on GVA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.00.

Granite Construction Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of GVA opened at $121.48 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.11. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 12-month low of $69.08 and a 12-month high of $124.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.01 and a beta of 1.32.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 24.04%. Granite Construction’s revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.99%.

Granite Construction Profile

Granite Construction Inc is a publicly traded heavy civil contractor and construction materials producer based in Watsonville, California. The company specializes in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects for government and private clients, focusing on the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of transportation, water resource and industrial facilities. Its turnkey solutions span the full project lifecycle, from preconstruction and design-build to construction management and facilities maintenance.

In its construction segment, Granite undertakes highway and bridge building, airport runway and taxiway construction, marine terminal and port improvements, dam and reservoir projects, transit systems and underground utilities.